Joaquin Phoenix (AKA Joaquin Texas Ranger) may soon be joining the DC universe as a villain. Variety reports Warner has offered the lead villain role in Batman vs Superman to Joaquin Phoenix.

Variety believes he may have been offered the role of Lex Luthor. That role was rumored to have been offered to Bryan Cranston, but the rumor may have sadly just been dishonest clickbaiting by a website which allegedly blows goats.

It may seem like Joaquin Texas Ranger would never do a blockbuster movie, but he’s done one before (Gladiator), and he recently expressed a certain kind of contemptuous respect for the challenge of acting in blockbusters.

“As long as you’re not visibly shaking in front of a camera, anyone could give a great performance with the right script and the right director.” He saves his praise for the cast of the new Star Trek, a film he adores, calling their work “f–king brilliant.”

He insists, “It’s even more difficult to stand with a half-made, fake-ass fucking set with some weird fucking wig and say a bunch of technical dialogue and not have the benefit of people going, ‘Well, this is important work so let’s give it its space.’ Everyone’s going, ‘C’mon, jerk-off! Let’s do this!’ ”

Maybe he’ll do a blockbuster like that someday. Maybe he won’t. “I love comedies and I love action movies,” he says. For now, he again feels like an actor who’s confident about his options. [LA Weekly via /film]

We can only hope Warner also casts Christopher Walken and finally fulfills Pauly‘s dream of Joaquin Phoenix and Christopher Walken renting a horse costume and walking around town as a horse named Christopher Joaquin.